


Sacrificial Split

by quiet__tiger



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Drabble Collection, Gen, Identity Porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 03:56:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10711686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiet__tiger/pseuds/quiet__tiger
Summary: Being a hero means sacrifice.





	Sacrificial Split

**Author's Note:**

> 500 words exactly, in the form of five 100 word drabbles for the prompt "Duality."
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal 17th-Jun-2008.

Bruce stood in the shower, carefully scrubbing sweat and grit off of his body, out of his skin.

He also slowly worked himself through the transition from Batman to Bruce Wayne. He had spent the last two hours chasing the Joker around the city, playing his mind games. Now he had to focus on his board meeting in four hours.

He needed to remember the facts and figures relevant to Wayne Tech, and if he didn’t get enough quality sleep he ran the risk of rambling like the Joker himself.

But it was getting harder to switch back to Bruce.

~*~

“Nice blue undershirt, Smallville.”

“Uh... laundry day.” Clark frowned as Lois walked away. The top button of his dress shirt had popped off, and the top of his costume was visible.

And yesterday he almost forgot his glasses, he was in such a rush to get to the office. It was hard sometimes to remember all the parts of his disguises.

Leaving work at every cry for help, creating excuses, fighting villains who all knew his weakness... It was tiring.

But that wasn’t a good excuse. He had to keep his worlds separate, his identity safe. Lives depended on it.

~*~

Dick winced as he threw the football to his friend. He didn’t want to play, but he really wanted to fit in at school, so when the guys offered, he did.

But he couldn’t tell them that his shoulder hurt from getting wrenched in a fight last night as Robin.

His teachers seemed suspicious of the bruises he couldn’t hide, too.

But it wasn’t like he could share how he got them. He’d blow the whole thing, and Bruce wouldn’t want him and he wouldn’t have Batman.

Best to just hide it all and pretend to be a regular kid.

~*~

Catwoman slipped into her apartment, and carefully secured the new cat’s eye diamonds she’d stolen that night. She shouldn’t have taken them, but she couldn’t help herself. Any minute Batman would show up and make her give them back, and why shouldn’t she?

She was normally a good guy now, and even worked with Batman sometimes. Good guys didn’t steal.

But she’d never lose her penchant for crime, and she was just damn good at it. But fighting crime had its moments, too, and Batman’s affection was nice after his scorn.

Riding the law’s fence chafed obnoxiously after a while.

~*~

Harvey Dent smiled, and so did Two Face.

They could lock him up all they wanted, but he’d get out eventually.

And then they’d find him because his MO was always the same, and the cycle would repeat.

No games, no subterfuge, everything was shockingly clear. The remnants of his sanity, and the glaring evidence that he was one deuce short of a pair.

Better that than accidentally playing craps.

Everyone always had two choices. Left, right. Up, down. Paper, plastic. Good or bad. Sane or insane.

He had the best of both worlds, out there for anyone to see.


End file.
